Rugby Injuries

Each week on Thursday evenings, I run my sports injury clinic at Chipping Norton RUFC and work on the players needing treatment.

There are  many different types of sports injury which occur in the game of Rugby. The obvious being the trauma or impact injury, dislocation and lesion, however, postural & over training  injuries are less obvious but often lead to long term damage which can be impossible to fix.

During my time at the club, I have seen another type of problem which is not spoken of and indeed the players seem to be unaware of. Rugby players like boxers train their mind & body to be always ready & to absorb impact - this puts them in a perpetual state of tension. Given that they also need to body build and strength train, their bodies are constantly in a tension and stress mode.

Stress
Much has been written about 'Stress' - good stress and bad stress - we are built to be 'stressed' but in only short bursts,  this is ok but long term or constant stress on the mind & body can be very damaging and can also be the source & cause of so many other problems.

When the body is under constant physical stress the muscles, tendons, ligaments & joints do not get the quality down time to house keep & repair tissue. When blood flow, nutrients, oxygen etc are restricted to the head because of  muscle tension in the neck, this restricts blood supply to the brain and leads to headaches or migraine. The constant release of stress hormones into the system is very damaging long term and thought to be the source of some diabetes, cancers and osteoarthritis.

Sports massage 
During exercise the body releases stress hormones but it does not know whether this is good or bad stress, so it is very important to warm down and relax, sports massage is of great advantage to the rugby player not only to detect and treat an injury early, but also to allow stress and muscle tension to be released.

Clinical Aromatherpy

I have used Aromatherapy at home for many years to treat and  alleviate the symptoms of colds, coughs &  flu etc. I decided a year ago to enrol on a diploma course in Aromatherapy and integrate this as an additional tool into my clinical therapies.

Often when you speak of aromatherapy, people can assume that it is a treatment using different smells - well sort of true by the tittle: aroma + therapy, the sense of smell does have a powerful effect and influence on the mind - peppermint is a great example, smells fresh & clean, one use is  to open the airway and it is useful to alleviate the symptoms of a cold.

Aromatherapy works by the absorption of  plant oil into the body, via inhalation ( oil burners & steamers) via the skin from aromatherapy massage (black pepper for muscle ache) a compress ( Arnica for bruising ) or ingestion as part of our food. ( garlic oil capsules used for heart conditions etc. The use of aromatherapy these days is widely accepted as the norm & used in many products: mint  / lavender / tea tree shower gel etc etc.

Aromatherapy is very similar to herbalism using plants and their therapeutic properties. The main difference is that herbalism will use the whole of the plant where as, aromatherapy uses the extracted plant oil.

It is possible to purchase aromatherpy in high street stores but it should be noted that most of these oils are pure and very concentrated and should only be used as directed by a qualified aromatherapist.

Exercise & the over 50s




Cycling in France

 Much is written about exercise and the over 50s in terms of safety, maximum heart rates, blood pressure, good nutrition, sports drinks, supplements injury prevention aids etc.

In truth, many generalisations and claims are made to cover the many different levels of fitness and abilities. Some of the claims have foundation but often are designed to sell a product which could be very important for the professional athlete but may really have little or no benefit to the weekend athlete.

It is true however, that before you embark on a new  exercise regime you should be checked out by a doctor / practice nurse and then a  personal trainer can assess your individual fitness level and advise on safe programme, tailored to your specific needs.

Warming up and warming down
Warming up & down must always be a part of a good exercise regime. If the muscles are cold and stiff without good blood flow and then pushed into explosive exercise this will greatly increase risk of injury.

Too often this critical  part of exercise is  is missed and the results often end up in clinic with torn or ruptured muscles & tendons. Warming down also assists in removing lactic acid in the muscles and helps to avoid cramps and muscle pain.

Stretching before and after exercise 
There has been some debate about the benefits of stretching pre exercise. However there seems to be no doubt about the benefits of stretching off post exercise. Stretching will lengthen the muscle and return the muscle resting length to normal plus it will align the colegen fibres and assist in the removal of lactic acid preventing cramps and pain.

If a muscle is allowed to shorten and remain in that shortened position it will be less effective and need more effort to perform the same contraction, thus the athlete becomes more fatigued quicker.
Muscle shortening will also adversely affect the joint associated with it and cause the joint to wear (osteoarthritis).

Sports massage 
Many over 50s have niggles and some muscle or postural issues from general wear and tear. The benefits of sports & remedial massage are well documented on my website, a good therapist whilst assisting in keeping the athlete in optimum condition will also pick up any postural deviation caused by over tonic muscles. They will be able to offer good stretching advise for post exersise to prevent that shortened muscle memory becoming a real problem.

High or low impact sports
For those over 50 it should be carefully considered those sports which involve sports high impact or high wear on the joints are apporpriate. Recovery time from injury takes longer as we age and encouraging the early onset of osteoarthritis should be avoided. Osteoporosis is another consideration however low impact and low stressing of the bones will encourage the body to create stronger bones.

Cycling, Swimming are fantastic sports for the over 50s, the picture as above on this post shows several cyclists in there 70s fit and well and still acheiving over the 80miles in a day!